My Daddy

my dad married Sam and I under the trees. 

 My dad is pretty much the sweetest, most gentle, best listener and kick-butt cool of a guy you will ever meet. Everyone who meets him falls in love with him, ask anybody. He looks like he's 15-20 years younger than he is. So much so that when I got older, people frequently mistook him for my brother or boyfriend. Can you say 'embarrassing?' ha! ;)  I fell in love with him the first time I met him too.

Me, right about the time my mom met my dad

My biological father had been in but, mostly out of the picture for several years from the time I was 2 on due to a drug and alcohol addiction. My mom had raised me as a single parent. She's amazing. She wasn't interested in dating and thought seeing guys was a distraction. She did desire for me to have a good dad figure in my life and prayed that if God did have someone for her he would come soon enough for me to be able to bond with him.

A few weeks after praying that, she met my dad (Ruben) at a Christian business meeting, at the sign in table. They became really good friends instantly. My mom had not a clue that he was interested in her until they were in the parking lot and he gave her a little peck on the cheek... or was it the lips? ;) She was shocked and said, "but you're younger than me!?" My dad is 5 years older than my mom for the record. haha. She made him pull out his driver's license to prove it to her. She then went down a list of reasons why he was "too good" for her. He quickly shot everything out of the sky and thus their romance began.

I was around 6 and a half. My mom hadn't been dating him too long, when he met up with us at McDonalds to see me for the first time. I remember liking him instantly. He watched me walk across the see-saw like it was the greatest thing ever.  I was pretending it was a balance beam.  How cool is that!? What kid wouldn't think he was amazing? haha. He quickly became one of my favorite people.

 I remember my mom coming up to the school in the middle of the day some months after they had been dating, taking me out of class to tell me that she thought "Ruben" was going to ask her to marry him. I definitely approved. My mom went back to work, I went back to school and proceeded to tell my entire class that I was getting a new daddy. Then, at lunch I told the entire elementary school, literally. My baby sitter's daughter, who was a few years older than me, upon hearing the news, looked at me and said, "I feel so sorry for you." At the time, my innocent 6 year old heart didn't understand what self righteousness was, so I shrugged my shoulders and skipped off to tell my other friends the exciting news. A few days later he did indeed propose. And a few months after that, they were married and I had myself the most amazing daddy ever.  My parents just celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary 2 weeks ago. :)

Seriously, my dad is one of my best friends you guys. God answered my mom's prayer in the most beautiful way. A week after they were married I started calling him "daddy" and never have stopped.  I love redemption and that is the definition of my family.

Thank you daddy for loving me, listening to me and seeing everything I do as the most important event ever. Thank you for making me laugh, for being my friend and for loving momma the way you do. You are one of the greatest treasures. I love you. Happy Father's Day.

I'm around 11 or so in this pic. 

my dad and me watching the stars...right before I left for school out in California.

grandpa, right after little man was born.